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Houston Deck Design

admin — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 01:53:46 +0000

Decks add form, texture and interest to your landscape. The most common deck design attaches the deck to the house, although freestanding decks can be quite dramatic. With the variety of materials available today, deck designs come in all forms and shapes from their inclusion in a small garden design to an unexpected urban landsca......ping project to a sprawling hillside sun garden.

Decks add natural beauty, warmth and desirability to your home. And not just for you and your family. A well-designed, properly built deck-one that is sturdy, long-lasting and beautiful-will add value to your property as well.

Deck Design: Choosing a Designer or Contractor

The long list of choices you will face concerning the design of your deck begins with choosing who will build it. In this region, you have a wide choice of Houston landscape designers and landscape contractors to choose from. It is a critical decision for many reasons, not the least of which is the desire to avoid an under-built design-one that is inadequately attached to the structure or inadequately supported.

Here are some tips for finding someone suitable for your project, courtesy of Jeff Halper, landscape design specialist at Exterior Worlds:

Spend time interviewing the designer. Discuss the types of projects they've done and how long they've been in business.
Ask friends for referrals.
Ask for references and then follow up on them.
Halper advises you to keep in mind that "the more complex the project-the more sophisticated the design-the more important your designer and contractor become."

Deck Design: Design Choices

Once selected and hired, your contractor or designer will start the interview process. It is during these discussions that you define and convey what you want out of your deck design. For instance, whether to cover the deck or not. Be creative in thinking through this aspect since other solutions, like planting trees, might work. (This type of issue is where professional designers really earn their keep since they'll be mindful of the deck's impact on the total landscape.) You also might want to consider deck railing and built-in seats.

Other add-ons include outdoor fireplaces or fire pits, outdoor kitchens, and outdoor water fountains. Houston's infamous rainstorms need to be taken into account so you will want to tie the deck's design into any existing drainage systems. Consider the need for gutters, French drains, or decorative drains. Decks also present a great opportunity to enhance your landscape lighting.

Your designer or contractor will work with you to make sure the deck is in proportion to your home and other structures. The deck design will also take into consideration the house's architecture, exits and entrances, what space is available on which to build, the grade of the yard, and any existing trees or gardens.

Deck Design: Material Choices

In landscape design terminology, the term "deck" refers to both a wooden deck and the decking, usually some kind of masonry or stone, around a luxury swimming pool. Materials used vary with personal preferences, design considerations and your desired budget. Main choices include wood, stone (cut stone, flagstone, limestone, bluestone, slate), brick, concrete (colored or textured or both), and pavers.

When choosing wood for a patio or terrace, pressure-treated pine is the mainstay option.

Another good choice is an engineered product like Trex. The original financial outlay is a bit more than with wood, but, if maintained properly, the longevity is 1 ½-2 times that of wood. Trex offers another benefit in these eco-conscious times: its decking, railing and fencing are made primarily from recycled plastic grocery bags, reclaimed pallet wrap and waste wood. Halper also points out that Trex is great for tree preservation. "You only have to make a few holes to hold up the decking. And you don't cover the ground with it, something that suffocates trees," he says.

For pool decking, surfaces like stone, brick and concrete are durable options. Beautiful, too. These products are also valued because they can be roughed up and made to be non-slippery, which is essential for the wet areas around a pool.

Deck Design: Maintenance

Houston's weather is hard on everything, including your deck. Wooden decks can be cleaned with a special cleaner, which will remove the gray mildew. Whatever cleaning agent is used, be sure to rinse thoroughly.

Stone, brick and concrete are relatively maintenance free. However, you will want your landscape service company to perform regular checks for any cracking or splintering. Also, if your deck is deeply shaded, mildew can grow on these surfaces. A deck cleansing product or a mild bleach solution will take care of most problems. Make sure your landscape maintenance contract covers all these items.

Jeff Halper is passionate for Landscaping and wants to share information about that passion. At Exterior Worlds you can read more about Deck Design or Landscaping Design

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Decorative Concrete Design

admin — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 01:51:00 +0000

Custom Decorative Concrete is one of the most used concrete technologies today. Weather it’s for residential or commercial, custom decorative concrete has grown immensely in popularity for new construction and remodeling. Different types of uses have grown in popularity as well. The most common uses today are fo......r counters, indoor and outdoor fireplaces, bathrooms, walls, garage, sidewalks, driveways, decks, pool area, and patios. Just like any other project, it starts with an idea. There are hardly any limits with what can be done with custom decorative concrete. Concrete on it’s own is very durable and strong. By employing certain key additives and finishes, used in the latest technology today, enhances strength and longevity significantly.

Colored Decorative Concrete comes in many different colors. There are also several different ways to color concrete. Concrete staining is the most cost effective and easiest way to rejuvenate existing concrete. Applied like staining wood, concrete stain dries and hardens to give you a flake proof surface. Concrete stain colors can vary from black stain, English red stain, green lawn stain and even aqua blue stain. Integral colors are primarily earth tone base that employ additives in a ready-mix fashion. Some of these colors include canyon, dune, green slate and flagstone brown. Not quite as cost friendly as stain, but is still budget savvy and easy to install as well. Concrete dyes are a great alternative to achieve colored concrete. Dyes are mixed at the job site. After the drying process the brilliance and luster of the finish product will last for many years to come. By adding a Lithochrome hardener, you will notice right away the exquisite shine and durability Lithochrome hardener provides.

Stamped Concrete Designs are generally pre-stamped in blocks by a manufacturer. The stamped texture can give you a wide variety of looks such as cobblestone, slate, fieldstone, fan stone, Spanish tile and many, many more. Stamped concrete can be arranged to make a particular pattern or you can choose to have it laid out in a traditional inter-locking fashion. Stamped surfaces come in a nice array of finishes too, such as, smooth, aggregate, brick and stucco just to name a few.

When it comes to a decorative concrete design project, it is a good idea to hire a reputable contractor to assist you. Visit this Raleigh decorative concrete design web site and see your concrete design ideas become reality.

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Beginner Tips for Garden Design

admin — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 01:51:18 +0000

Once you figure out what kind of garden you're planting and where you'll put it, you should start coming up with ideas on what to do with your garden environment. This is an important step when designing a garden.

The first thing you should do is pick out a material to use for borders. You'll want to seperate your garde......n from grass and other plants. Another good idea is to have some kind of mesh support for your new plants.

Most people will choose either a metal or a wood barrier for their garden. Boards stacked up around a garden will give it the nice wood-cabin effect. Or you could get some cheap metal lining from your local Menards or Home Depot. This stuff is pretty easy to install and gives a very modern look to your garden.

Another choice could be to build your border out of flagstone. This natural stone material is great for buildings paths, patios, outdoor fireplaces, and tree borders. Of course, there are also other rock materials you could use.

Something else you want to take into account is some kind of support for your plants. Most gardening stores sell small, cone-shaped mesh supports to help hold up your plants. Once they get enough strength to hold themselves up, you would simply cut the support away.

Another important part in designing a garden is how much soil should you buy? Depending on what your growing, dig out the ideal depth of soil for your plant. You can then measure how many cubic feet your garden is, and that tells you how much soil you need.

I always like to buy a few extra bags just to make sure I have enough for the job. Also if you're working on very dry, cracked ground that has a lot of rocks and gravel, you should add a couple inches of soil onto the recommended depth.

Plant arrangement is another important decision you'll need to make when designing your garden. Certain plants may hog all the water and not let others get any, so you have to make sure you have a good watering system. Put these plants next to a plant with weaker, shorter roots, and your only asking for disaster.

A beautiful flagstone path will finish your garden off very nicely and give a very professional look. You can find more ways to lay flagstone on my website.

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Design the Perfect Mediterranean Landscape

admin — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 01:54:40 +0000

One of the most popular Los Angeles landscape design themes is Mediterranean. When it comes to landscape remodeling o......r even a kitchen remodel Los Angeles residents are going for the beautiful yet simple Mediterranean style! This is because our sunny southern California weather is similar to that of Mediterranean countries such as Rome, Tuscany, Greece, or Spain. A Mediterranean style landscape will often give a warm and inviting impression to guests, but it is also a classic style which is very elegant. Neutral colored materials are often used for paths and walkways. Smooth, light-colored stones look great with Mediterranean-style plants. In addition, light-colored stone, weathered bricks, terra cotta, and flagstone are all good examples of materials commonly used in Mediterranean landscaping.

Palm trees are an important part of a Mediterranean landscape! They greatly add to the style, and they are very drought resistant, so they grow easily in the southern California climate. There aren't many Mediterranean gardens that don't include palm trees. In addition, fruit and olive trees are common. Mediterranean gardens are designed to be not only beautiful, but also practical. Having a row of fruit trees can make your landscape look great and you get fresh fruit as well! It is often a good idea to talk to a professional Los Angeles landscape designer to find out what kind of plants will work best in your area.

Although lush green lawns are a great addition to a landscape, they aren't used as much in Mediterranean environments. Before sprinklers and hoses, people depended on the weather to keep their plants hydrated. For this reason, grass wasn't really a viable option in the rain-less summer months. Using gravel, small rocks, or ground-cover plants is often a good way to decorate a garden in drier areas. Planters with drought-resistant shrubs, flowers, or bushes look great lining the walkways and patio areas of the garden.

Many Mediterranean gardens feature water features. A pond or fountain serves as a great contrast to the warm colors of the walkways and patios. This is a good place to incorporate smooth stone and decorate with carved accents. As the Mediterranean style has become very popular in the southern California area, there are many places where you can buy suitable decorations and fountains. Another decorative touch that is very popular is a set of large decorative pots or urns with flowers cascading down the side. Finally, wrought iron or wood adds a great touch to gates, fences, and arches.

Many people opt for a Mediterranean landscape because it is very successful in the Southern California climate. Also, it is a great choice for beauty as well as minimum maintenance! When talking to a general contractor Los Angeles residents desiring beauty and functionality should ask about a Mediterranean garden.

Los Angeles Kitchen Remodeling Bathroom Remodel Landscape Design Company, General Contractor for Los Angeles Bath Remodel, Kitchen Remodeling and Landscape Design projects.

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Classic Landscape Design and Traditional Landscape Design in Houston Texas

admin — Mon, 03 May 2010 02:48:59 +0000

In the first millennium, a wealthy Roman family would most likely have had a garden surrounding their home. In it, you might find an open-air palazzo, pergola-style structures dripping with vines and blooming flowers, a dining area with couches for relaxation, water features such as an outdoor water fountain or wall fountain, and ......walkways that led out into the garden proper, perhaps to a prized rosebush or into an olive grove. These are some of the elements characterizing what is now called classical landscape design, also known as traditional landscape design.

Classical landscape design is a subset of formal landscape design that uses linear, clean lines to develop an uncluttered look. These lines can be drawn with rows of trees and well-trimmed hedges, perfect plantings for the classical landscape design. Or perhaps a seat wall made of regimented terra cotta tiles can do double-duty. Here and there, vines, such as ivy or wisteria, can soften any harshness. In this regard, this style is similar to the Mediterranean landscape design with its Roman and Greek influences.

The History of Classical Landscape Design

Borrowing influences from previous civilizations, classical landscape design solidified in Rome and the surrounding countryside. Villas were built with comfortable courtyards, sparkling with the sound of water, shaded by large trees, fragrant with rosemary and citrus fruits. It was from this setting that we got the term "pleasure garden."

In England of the late 1700s, property owners started looking backwards, past the Baroque period and the Renaissance, to the beginnings of western civilization. There, they found classical landscapes making use of woods, water, indigenous plants and small temples. These elements were incorporated into the gardens of that day, further defining the principles of traditional landscape design.

By the way, when Rome fell to the barbarians, the gardens had become so exquisite that the barbarians chose not to ransack them. Instead they kept them up and learned from them. This development is one of the early examples of how we, as humans, learned that beauty can change the world: it can stop violence. This principle is now being used to good effect in gardens started as rehabilitation projects in prisons, inner cities and ghettos.

Choices in Classical Landscape Design

As with all landscape design, the architecture of the house needs to be considered when using a traditional landscape design. For this style, the home and landscape can be tied together through the subtle placement of a hardscape feature, such as the use of tumbled travertine for the courtyard flooring.

Because of the formal principles inherent in this style, you want to strike a balance when choosing materials between boring blandness and baroque lavishness. Think instead in terms of interesting variety. For instance, well-contained decorative gravel can provide color and texture. Courtyards, pool decking and patios should use materials that are symmetrical, in keeping with the formal style. Stone, terra cotta tiles and flagstone are appropriate choices. Granite benches, concrete grottoes and marble urns add sturdiness and reference antiquities.

Your preference for classical landscape design can also be demonstrated in the plants you choose. Your residential garden will be enhanced by fruit trees and other dwarf trees-or perhaps a stand of cypress, mulberry or fig trees. The cheery colors of marigolds, hyacinths and roses are well suited for the classical landscape design. Herbs planted in terra cotta pots scent the air and provide fresh flavor in your outdoor kitchen cooking.

Hardscapes in Classical Landscape Design

Color, form, line, scale, and texture are your means of expressing classical landscape design preferences just as they are with modern landscape design.

Hardscapes to include:
Outdoor rooms for outdoor living. These living areas, in effect, make your home bigger. They also serve to create transition areas that connect the indoor and outdoor spaces. Plus, they further the notion that a garden is a place of rejuvenation. In particular, outdoor kitchens are important to the traditional landscape design.

Outdoor water fountains. If you remember your ancient world history classes, you know that the Romans perfected the aqueduct. So water is prized within classical landscape design and nothing showcases it like a picture-perfect outdoor water fountain. Look for fountains in formal, Romanesque, Italianate, Mediterranean and rustic styles. Those made of tile, cast stone, cast iron and concrete work particularly well with this style.

Swimming pools. When placed within a classical landscape design, the shape of your swimming pool should tend towards basic geometric shapes like rectangles and ovals. Thus, the shape of the pool frames the water and turns it into a classical design element of the landscape. It is often efficient to combine the pool with an outdoor water fountain to eliminate some maintenance redundancies.

Landscape lighting. Landscape lighting is another important element of traditional landscape design as it creates ambiance and lets you enjoy the outdoors, night and day.

Classical Landscape Design: A Houston Setting

"We implemented a classical landscape design for one of our Houston clients, whose home was French Country. For the garden, we chose a design that closely resembles a famous garden in Florence," says Jeff Halper with Exterior Worlds. "The landscape design makes good use of gravel and limestone, which looks very natural in a Houston garden. And we planted boxwoods, which we trim and shape regularly as part of a well-thought-out residential landscape maintenance plan. It is a lovely and relaxing space."

Classic Landsape Design exterior worlds

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Ideas For A Great Patio Design

admin — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 01:49:02 +0000

A great way to make your house seem bigger is to add a beautiful patio to it. If you skillfully take advantage of the natural landscaping in your yard, your patio will look and feel like it is a part of the house.

The style of your patio should go hand in hand with the style of your home. In other words, if ......you have an older house it would probably not look right to add on a new ultra modern patio. Likewise, if you have a newer home, you should be thinking of patio designs that look right with the modern aspects of your house.

The patio is really just an extension of your house so the style you use for your patio should be similar to what you have indoors.

How big and elaborate you make your patio will be determined by both the space available and your budget. Some patios are only big enough for a small table and a couple of chairs while others might have a full outdoor bar and kitchen along with the table and chairs. One of the more popular accessories you can get now is a portable table/fireplace. These are great when the weather turns a little colder and might extend the time you are able to use your patio.

The type of furniture you decide to use for your patio might depend somewhat on the weather in your area. Chairs and sofas with soft material cushions are not great choices for wet climates. Chairs and tables that are water resistant would make you life easier if it rains a lot. Likewise, if you live in a hot sunny environment, the sun will both fade and do other types of damage to any furniture you keep outside on your patio. In a sunny local, it is advisable to find furniture that will resist the sun and its harmful rays.

Plants and vegetation can be used to enhance the look of your patio. Potted plants always look great on patios and some bushes skillfully planted in the right areas will help define the shape of your patio. In addition, a tree or two might be planted to block out some of the sun and provide shade for your new patio.

The surface you decide to make your patio will also be crucial in defining its look and feel. Popular patio surfaces include concrete, flagstone, slate, brick, and stone. There are different advantages and disadvantages to each one of these surfaces so do some research before you choose.

Make sure you look through lots of magazines and visit your local furniture / home improvement stores for ideas before you start designing and building your new patio. Starting with a plan is always the best way to go.

Want more great patio ideas? Please visit Patio Design Ideas for lots more ways to make your patio your most favorite room in the house!

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Winter Is The Time To Design Your Patio

admin — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 01:50:23 +0000

Fall is almost here and Winter will be right behind it. Believe it or not, winter is the perfect time to plan and design your patio. During the Summer, the patio gets used a lot and there is little time to start rebuilding or making modifications to the patio.

Fall and Winter, when the patio is not in use, i......s the time to sit down and make some decisions about how you want to redesign your garden patio. A patio is an extension of your home and should be much more than the slab of concrete you have now.

While designing or redesigning your patio, you need to have a plan of the overall style you want. Your patio is an extension of your house and should flow well with your home's style. What type of patio surface you choose, whether it be flagstone, brick, concrete, or something else, will contribute greatly to the look of the patio and how it compliments the surrounding area.

The garden area around the patio is also an instrumental part of creating the "feel" of your patio and giving it a unique style. Flowers, trees, bushes, and potted plants all need to be positioned with thought so that they work together to create the right atmosphere.

Do you want to ad a cover to your patio? If you live in a rainy climate a retractable cover might be a good idea. There are many to choose from including ones that are free standing and ones that are attached to your house. If you choose to install a patio cover that is actually attached to your house, a permit from your city might be required. Since obtaining a permit from the city takes time, you want to plan ahead for this and Winter is a great time to get started.

Many people like to include a hot tub on or near their patio. This is another thing that might take some advance planning as a hot tub that looks like it was just plopped down on the patio does not add the right atmosphere. The hot tub needs to look as though it belongs there and is part of the patio design.

The possibilities for great patio designs are endless and Fall and Winter is the right time to start getting your ideas together. Patio books can be found at most bookstores and home improvement stores that will have pictures to get your imagination flowing. If you have all your ideas organized and ready to go, you will be ready when Spring comes along to put your patio redisigns into motion so that your patio will be ready by Summer.

Please read about more great patio ideas at my site Great Patio Ideas. Start thinking now about how you want to change your patio design.

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Formal Landscape Design, Residential Landscaping and Installation in Houston Texas

admin — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 06:24:04 +0000

Formal landscape design invokes order and balance. Think of the gardens of Monticello, the landscaping of Versailles, and, closer to home, the gardens of Bayou Bend, which is part of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

The hand of the gardener is clearly in evidence in formal landscape designs as the pathways an......d plantings are controlled along crisp lines. It is this discipline that gives a sense of peace and order. Formal landscape design is our attempt to exert our control over nature, to create our idealized version of it.

Throughout history, formal gardens have evolved. Traditional, or classic, landscape design, for instance, is a type of formal garden that uses linear walkways and clipped shrubbery. In the 16th and 17th centuries, knot gardens and parterres were in vogue. Originating in England, a knot garden is a square made of low, clipped hedges. Within the "knot", a variety of blooming plants and herbs grow. Parterres developed in the formal estates of France and are four squares laid in a symmetrical pattern separated by gravel paths. The planting that makes the outline of the parterre is an evergreen shrub trimmed into a pleasant, sometimes intricate, shape. Parterres are designed to be viewed from on high-from the crest of a slope or the balcony of a chateau.

Like language, the term "formal landscape design" continues to change with time. There are few hard and fast rules-but the main constant is to use the principles of formal landscape design to create a landscape that is beautiful and supports the things you love.

Creating Your Formal Residential Landscape Design

Formal gardens need not be boring. They can be quietly dramatic or outright bold. While there are many kinds of formal gardens, they have two qualities in common: balance and symmetry. These attributes are best exemplified by the way the structural lines, called axes, bring the eye to rest where they intersect. Axes are straight lines of sight that lead to a prominent feature, usually the house. Typically a formal residential landscape has two axes perpendicular to one another. Called the main axis and the secondary axis, they often double as paths.

The main axis is usually wider than the secondary path that crosses it. The extra width gives the main axis visual prominence and directs the eye. Thus the eye travels along the main axis, then stops when it reaches the intersection with the secondary axis, which joins it at a 90 degree angle. This joining is a good place for a focal point, such as an outdoor water fountain, that creates interest.

As opposed to an English garden design that uses curved borders with undulating edges, in formal garden design the edges and borders are laid out in neat, geometric shapes-rectangles, squares, triangles or circles. Along with the decisive contouring of the plant materials, these shapes accentuate the stability and serenity of formal landscape designs.

Because of the acute geometry of formal garden designs, some house styles are better suited for formal gardens than others. Colonial and Federal-style houses built of brick or stone work well with this style of garden. Formal gardens nicely complement urban townhouses, especially those constructed in formal architectural styles such as Second Empire, Georgian or Greek Revival. Contemporary designs, with their spare and unadorned lines, also support formal garden design.

Other Features in a Formal Landscape Designs and Formal Garden Designs

Luxury swimming pools. The water is the whole point of a formal pool. You want to create a frame for the water that turns it into a design element within the landscape. To that end, a rectangular shape of water looks inherently formal. Round, oval and square work well, too. Within a formal garden, the pool should be placed where it geometrically fits into the overall design. It can be situated in the middle of the space or unconnected to the other immediate features or structures. The pool is meant to stand out and be noticed. Be mindful of your choice of materials with a pool. You want to stay within the formal realm. Flagstone, tile or brick all work well.

Outdoor water fountains. Fountains fit beautifully in formal landscape designs. Just remember to keep them in the style of the garden and house design. A simple garden design with lots of open space and spare lines can take a more complex water fountain. If, however, your garden is more intricately designed or tightly planted, a simpler fountain works best.

Landscape lighting. Use the different types of landscape lighting-down-lighting, up-lighting, architectural lighting, incandescent lights-to play up the theatricality of a formal landscape design.

Residential Landscape Maintenance is the Key

An ongoing feature of formal gardens is maintenance. Regular and conscientious maintenance will keep your formal landscape design formal. "After spending a lot of money on your landscape installation, it only makes sense to protect it and make sure it develops as designed. And that's where a landscape maintenance program comes in," says Jeff Halper with Exterior Worlds. "As part of a thorough landscape maintenance program, hedges as well as other shrubs and bushes should be trimmed regularly to maintain the desired contours. Ground cover and vines should be edged to maintain a neat appearance. This regularly-scheduled attention will ensure that all elements conform to the overall plan of the formal landscape design."

Formal Landscape Design Exterior Worlds

Using Stones In Your Landscaping Design

admin — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 02:57:30 +0000

If you are looking for stones to use in your landscaping design, then you are in luck. Stones for landscaping come in a wide variety of different colors and sizes to enable you to find exactly the right look for your particular landscaping design.

Finding the Right Stones
You may be able to find...... some great stones in your own yard. If you live in an area that is rocky, then you may be able to find some rocks simply by digging in your yard. Your landscaping design will thank you for the added visual interest and texture.

Purchasing Stones for Landscaping
You should have no difficulty in finding stones to purchase for your landscaping design. Most garden stores and home improvement stores carry a wide variety of different colored and sized stones. You may also be able to locate a private landscaping company that sells stones, as well. They may even deliver them right to your home if needed.

Color and Shape Variety
You will be able to find any color, shape, or sized stone that you want or need for your landscaping plan. You can find anything from perfectly round stones that are manufactured to more natural looking stones that are more free-formed in size and shape.

Stone Retaining Walls
Stones can be used for other purposes besides a walkway. If you see a retaining wall in your landscaping plan, then using stones or rocks will be great. Stones and rocks will help give your landscaping design beauty and security.

Borders and Gardens
If your flowerbed or garden needs a border, then stones and rocks are a great choice. They will help to enhance the beauty of your garden or pond. They can add color and texture to your garden to make it more visually appealing and interesting.

Best Stones To Use
Two of the many kinds of stones are flagstone and river rock. These rocks are great for any landscaping project - from retaining walls to borders to stepping stones. Flagstone comes in many different colors to help match your outdoor décor. River rock is a little smaller in size, but it comes in the same variety.

If you need to fill in areas, then river rock is an excellent choice for this purpose, too. It will work well to keep weeds from coming up in spaces left in flowerbeds.

Using landscaping stones will most assuredly add beauty and interest to your landscaping design. Why not try it?

Andrew Caxton is a syndicated writer of http://www.lawn-mowers-and-garden-tractors.com . A website with tips on lawn care at landscaping

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Create A Garden And Patio Design To Enjoy Year-Round

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 19:54:47 +0000

Retreat to a garden and patio design that's beautiful year-round, and takes minimum fuss. What makes this possible? Carefree plants with continuous blooms, and a well-planned garden structure.

You don't need to be a lawn and garden expert or landscape designer to do this. Here are a few tips for creating a su......per yet simple garden and patio design that will be a knockout!

The first step is to take a birds-eye view of your garden and patio area. Make a rough sketch of your space, and play around with a few designs until you like what you see. As you're doing this, get some great ideas from existing garden and patio decorations. Pay a visit to other people's gardens, or public gardens. Look through home landscaping and gardening magazines, find what you like, and develop plans of your own.

Decide what style or theme is right for you... formal, casual, rustic, Southwestern, Japanese... there are enormous possibilities. Then stay with that style and theme so the overall effect does not become confusing. For instance, you wouldn't want to combine bronze garden sculptures of saints or cherubs with rustic wooden wagon wheels.

Imagine what your patio area will most often be used for. You may plan to entertain lots of outdoor dinner guests. If so, be sure your patio space has plenty of room for the largest number of people right from the beginning. Your patio may be more of a private, reflective retreat for enjoying the sun, reading a book, or gazing up at the stars. Determine the use of shade, open sun, or even covering it with a roof.

Now take your favorite ideas and put them into your rough plans - and soon you'll have a design that is ready for action.

The next step is to create your garden and patio design to scale - you can use landscaping software for this, or do it by hand. Choose the flowers you intend to plant, noting how many you will need for each month of your growing season, and select the landscaping structures that will give your design its form.

Some say the secret to a beautiful garden and patio design is having a good amount of hard structure. This is what landscape designers refer to as "good bones" - walls, fences, garden bridges, gates, garden arbors, landscape statues, garden fountains ... even a strong line of evergreen plants.

Garden structures such as these create forms and lines, giving your garden and patio design definition and dimension. Plus, in the winter when most plants are empty and bare, your garden will preserve its shape and sense of completeness. It's amazing how just one or two structures can produce this satisfying effect.

Most garden and landscaping structures are built to withstand the elements. Treated pine, cedar and teak garden furniture, trellises, arbors, and decorative fencing are great choices. Stone, copper, and bronze garden statuary will never let you down. Garden fountains bring incredible beauty and atmosphere to any garden and patio design - in fact, entire gardens have been built around them.

Next, choose annual spring flowers and perennial plants that will give you blooms from one season to the next. For instance, select carefree roses that need no pruning or spraying, and bloom continuously from spring through fall. Fill planters with beautiful blooming flowers such as Oriental lilies or verbena for different colors all summer long. Establish flower beds in corners or along walk ways. Always consider your local climate and plant according to the sun and shade needs of your plants.

As you plan your garden and patio design, create paths or walk ways that lead from one area to the next. Rambling garden paths are relaxing and charming... and if laid out thoughtfully, will be a big help to you as the gardener. Paths can be of stone, brick, flagstone, gravel, or mown turf, although grass paths require more upkeep. Garden sculptures or sitting benches thoughtfully placed along the way provide wonderful expression.

If you want garden and patio designs that are pre-drawn, there are ready-made plans available in books and magazines. This is another fine way to get off to a solid start. Use pre-made garden plans from start to finish, or incorporate parts of them right into you own creative plans.

Robert Mosse is a gardening and lawn care specialist and author of the "Easy" Lawn and Gardening Book Series. Visit Robert at Lawn And Gardening Tips for great gardening info... and get the free Guide for 101 Gardening Tips.